Cord tap assembling machine



June 21, 1955 v s. M. WEISBERG CORD TAP ASSEMBLING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 7, 1950 M. T m m.

aver/X fife-Maura June 1955 s. M. WEISBERG CORD TAP ASSEMBLING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 7, 1950 wa 3 "M ma W p u J M 7 w a 5 .5. 1

a s i w 5 w 4 BY W June 21, 1955 s. M. WEISBVERG 2,711,011

CORD TAP ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 113 .221 C q 30 v 2&5 nmilikgm IN V EN TOR. .S'mwsx /V. ilk/seam 2,711,011 CORDTAP ASSEMBLING MACHINE Sidney M. Weisberg, Newark, N. 1., assignor toAllied Electric Products, Inc., Irvington, N. J., a corporation of NewJersey The invention disclosed in this patent is a machine forassembling multiple service taps on the ends of extension cords.

Special objects of the invention are to provide a machine of simple,practical construction, easy to understand and operate and which willeffect the assembly of the parts rapidly and accurately and withoutdistortion or injury to the parts. l

A special feature of the invention is the mechanism designed to open upthe tap body to receive the cord and the contacts on the end of thecord.

It has been an object in designing this mechanism to assure first thatthe tap body which is usually of rubber or like stretchable material,will not be stretched beyond a desired limit and second, will not beheld in the stretched-open condition long enough to Weaken or injure thematerial.

Other desirable objects attained by the invention and the novel featurescontributing to the invention are set forth or will appear in the courseof the following specification. I

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the specificationillustrate a present commercial embodiment of the invention. Structure,however, may be modified and changed, all within the true intent andbroad scope of the invention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawings is a broken plan view of one of the tapassembling machines; I

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken plan view of the central spreader portionof the machine, showing a tap body in distended condition and with thecontacts inserted therein;

Fig. 3 is a further enlarged cross sectional view taken on substantiallythe plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the tap body fully distended bythe four spreader fingers and with the contacts entered through theopened throat of the tap body;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views of the assembled tap, Fig. 4 as onthe plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 6, Fig. 5 as on the plane of line 5-5 ofFig. 4, and Fig. 6 as on the plane of line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a broken cross sectional view as on substantially the plane ofline 7-7 of Fig. 1, showing a tap body as first located over thespreader fingers and with the parts in the starting position illustratedin Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a broken cross sectional view on substantially the plane ofline 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a broken sectional view similar to Fig. 7 but showing theupper and lower sets of spreader fingers separated to start the openingaction;

Fig. 10 is a broken sectional detail showing the upper spreaderfingersraised by the spreader cam as in Fig. 9;

Figs. 11 and 12 are plan and side elevation views, respectively, of thecontact holder on the back'slide, showing the wired contacts yieldinglyand removably held in position thereon, ready for insertion into thetap;

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view showing the relation of the tap andspreader fingers when the tap body is first placed over those fingers,as in Fig. 7;

Patented June 21', 1955 Fig. 14 is a similar view showing the parts asthey appear when the tap body is turned over to the position shown inFig. 9 and the upper and lower sets of fingers separated by rocking downthe cam levers appearing at the top in this view;

Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic view showing the vertically spaced fingersseparated laterally to effect the full opening of the tap body to theextent indicated in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 16 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the action of stripping theassembled tap ofi the blades of the contact inserting slide.

The multiple outlet form of tap which the present illustrated machine isintended to handle, is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 as comprising aone-piece body of rubber or similar elastic material 20 having an entrythroat 21 in one end for the cord 22 and attachment blade receivingpassages 23 in the opposite end and other attachment blade receivingpassages 24 in the opposite sides of the same.

These end and side opening contact passages 23 and 24 cross inside thetap body and thus accommodate the cruciform type of contacts shown at25. There are two of these, at opposite sides of the intermediateseparating partition wall 26, the latter extending, as shown in Figs. 4and 6, nearly up to the cord entrance 21 so as to form a separator forthe two wires of the cord and a barrier separating the two contacts 25attached to the ends of the wires at 27.

To locate these contacts and wires, the mouth of the tap body needs tobe opened up at opposite sides of the central partitioning structure 26an extent suflicient to pass the laterally projecting bar portions 28 ofthe contacts.

For such purposes spreader fingers are provided over which the mouth ofthe tap body may be forced and then these fingers are first opened up inone way to start the spreading action and then separated in a differentdirection to complete the spreading and opening action.

Fig. 1 shows the upper of the vertically and horizontally separablespreader fingers at 29, 30, and Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show the companion,lower, laterally separable fingers 31, 32.

The left and right-hand pairs of spreader fingers 29, 31 and 30, 32,respectively, are mounted on slides 33, 34, operable in a guidingstructure 35 and shifted by rods 36, 37, connected with pistons 38, 39,in air cylinders 40, 41.

These pistons are acted on by springs 42, tending to return them to theposition shown in Fig. l, with the spreader fingers in laterallyabutting or adjoining relation, and the pistons are actuated in theopposite, finger separating direction by air or other power fluidadmitted through piping 43 to the front ends of the pistons undercontrol of a foot valve 44 which may be a customary fourway ratchet footvalve.

The vertical separation of the fingers of each laterally separable pairis effected, in the illustration, by mounting the upper fingers 29, 30,on slides 45, 46, vertically operable in the laterally shifting slides33, 34, Fig. 8, and arranged to be positioned by cams 47, 48, on rockshafts 49, 50, journaled on the laterally separable slides and operableby hand levers 51, 52.

To hold the tap body firmly in position while being opened up to receivethe contacts, a plunger 53 is shown operable in a guide 54 by hand lever55 to force the tap over the spreader fingers into engagement with theabutment surface 56, Fig. 2.

In the present disclosure the plunger 53 is retained in the holdingposition, Fig. 2, by means of a latch 57, Figs. 1 and 2, pivoted onlever 55 in position to engage over a detent lug 58. Latch lever 57 isarranged to be disengaged from the lug 58 by means of spring pressedrelease lever 59, Fig. 1.

The holder for the contact blades which are to be inserted, is shown inFigs. 11 and 12 as a reduced extension 60 on the inner end of a plungerslide 61 operable by a hand lever 62 and having spring fingers 63, 64,at the upper and lower sides of the same to yieldingly confine andretain the upper and lower tap contacts 25.

The front and back slides or plungers 53 and 61, Figs. 1 and 2, aresupported for back and forth movement substantially at right angles tothe lateral movement of the spreader slides 33 and 34.

Operation Under typical conditions, with the front and back slides 53and 61 retracted or withdrawn as in Fig. l, a pair of the tap contacts25 secured on the ends of an extension cord 22, may be slipped over thespring arms 65 of the contact holder 60, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12,with the attached cord 22 offset at the side of the holder.

Then, as shown in Fig. 7, the cord receiving end 21 of a tap body 20 maybe slipped over the ends of the collapsed spreader fingers 29, 30, 31,32, with the side outlets 24 upper and lowermost and the oval shape ofthe cord throat 21 therefore the more readily engageable over thefingers. In this position, however, the ends of the fingers will contactthe end of the separating partition 26 in the tap body. The latter maythen be rotated one-quarter turn to bring the side outlets 24 toopposite sides, as in Figs. 2 and 9, with the fingers positioned toupper and lower sides of said partition. whereupon the hand levers 51,52, may be rocked downwardly from the Figs. 1, 7 and 8 position to theFigs. 2, 9 and 10 position, to raise the upper fingers 29, 30, and openup the cord receiving throat 21 from the Fig. 13 to the Fig. 14position.

With this accomplished, the front slide 53 may be advanced by hand lever55, Figs. 1, 2 and 9, to force the tap body fully up against the frontstop 56.

With the front slide 53 latched in this holding position as shown inFigs. 2 and 9, the foot valve 44 may be tripped to admit pressure fluidto the front ends of cylinders 40, 41, to cause the pistons in thesecylinders, through rods 36, 37, to laterally separate the slides 33, 34,as in Fig. 2, thus to cause the upper and lower pairs of fingers tostretch the cord throat laterally into the fully opened relationindicated in Figs. 3 and 15.

The back slide 61 carrying the contacts 25 and connected wires, is thenadvanced by hand lever 62 to project the contacts and attached wiresfully into the opened tap body, substantially as shown in Fig. 2.

Hand levers 51, 52, may then be thrown up into the Fig. 7 position tocollapse the spreader fingers vertically, and pressure in the cylindersreleased to permit the pistons, under impulse of the springs 42, toreturn toward the Fig. 1 position to the extent permitted by the enteredcontact projecting blades 65.

The front hand lever 55 may then be released by tripping latch lever 59,Fig. l.

The back lever 62 may then be further advanced to push the partiallycollapsed tap body forwardly off the projecting ends of the partiallycollapsed spreader fingers 29, 30, 31, 32.

As the tap body is thus forced forwardly otf the ends of the spreaderfingers, it will collapse and close in abutting engagement over the endsof these fingers. substantially as indicated in Fig. 16, so that saidbody in its nearly fully collapsed condition will bear against the endsof these fingers and be thereby held while the contact inserting blades65 are fully withdrawn by a backward retracting movement of hand lever62.

The finished tap is thus stripped from the spreading and holdingmechanism, leaving the mechanism in the fully opened relation indicatedin Fig. 1, ready to receive and act upon the next tap.

What is claimed is:

l. A tap assembling machine comprising lateralll separable pairs ofspreader fingers arranged to have the cord receiving end of an elastictap body engaged thereover, the fingers of each laterally separable pairbeing vertically separable, means for effecting the vertical separationof the fingers of each pair including vertically movable slides havinghand levers for shifting the same in opposite directions, means foreffecting lateral separation of said pairs of fingers to effect fullexpansion of the cord receiving end of the tap body and includinglaterably shiftable slides on which said vertically movable slides aremounted and means for effecting insertion of tap contacts through thefully opened cord receiving opening of the tap, including a slide havingmeans on the front of the same for holding tap contacts and operabletoward the back of said spreader fingers to carry said contacts into theposition they are to occupy in the tap and a front slide operable towardthe front of said spreader fingers to force and hold the tap in positionon said spreader fingers while the contacts are being entered in the tapbody from the back.

2. A tap assembling machine comprising two laterally separable pairs ofspreader fingers arranged to have the cord receiving end of an elastictap body engaged thereover, the fingers of each laterally separable pairbeing vertically separable, means for effecting the vertical separationof the fingers of each pair, interconnected means for effecting lateralseparation of said pairs of fingers and of the fingers of each pair toeffect full expansion of the cord receiving opening and then relativecollapsing movement of the fingers, means for efiecting insertion of tapcontacts through the fully opened cord receiving opening of the tap,including a slide having means on the front of the same for holding tapcontacts and operable toward the back of said spreader fingers to carrysaid contacts into the position they are to occupy in the tap and afront slide operable toward the front of said spreader fingers to forceand hold the tap in position on said spreader fingers while the contactsare being entered in the tap body from the back, the collapsing movementof all four of said spreader fingers permitting the tap body to closeover the inserted contacts and said slide for inserting tap contactshaving further advancing movement for stripping the tap body with thecontacts inserted therein, off the spreader fingers.

3. A machine for assembling contacts and connected wires into astretchable tap body, comprising spreader fingers insertable in the cordoutlet of an elastic tap body separable in two different directions,means for efiecting separation of said spreader fingers in said twodifferent directions and means for inserting tap contacts and attachedwires into said tap body while spread in said two different directions,including a back slide provided with means for temporarily, releasablyholding the tap contacts and attached wires and having movement to carrysaid contacts through the spread-apart spreader fingers into seatedposition within a spread tap body and a front slide having movementtoward the tap body to engage the same at its end remote from its saidcord outlet for holding the tap body on the spreader fingers during saidspreading and stretching operations and a machine base having guidewaysfor said slides for guiding them to move toward and away from the zoneof operation of the spreader fingers.

4. A machine for assembling contacts and connected wires into astretchable tap body, comprising spreader fingers insertable in the cordoutlet of an elastic tap body separable in two different directions,means for effecting separation of said spreader fingers in said twodifferent directions and means for inserting tap contacts and attachedwires into said tap bodies while spread in said two differentdirections, including a back slide provided with means for temporarily,releasably holding the tap contacts and attached wires and havingmovement to carry said contacts through the spread-apart spreaderfingers into seated position within a spread tap body and a front slidefor holding the tap body on the spreader fingers during said spreadingand stretching operations, and a releasable latch for temporarilyretaining said front slide in said contact and wire inserting operationand said back slide having an advancing movement toward said front slideand engageable in such movement with the tap body on the spreaderfingers for stripping the tap body with the contacts and wires insertedtherein, ofi said spreader fingers after said front slide has beenreleased by said latch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS HermanNov. 16, White Dec. 28, Chirelstein June 21, Chirelstein Apr. 10,Montgomery July 17,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 30, Great Britain Oct. 1,

